What do I do with all these tomatoes?

Now that it's warmed up, your tomatoes are probably ripening faster than you can eat them. I thought I'd share a recipe with you that I use. If anyone has any other great ways to use tomatoes, I'd love to hear it and I'll post it on our blog. Hot and Chunky Summer Salsa 8 c. peeled, chopped tomatoes 3 finely chopped banana peppers 6 jalepeno peppers (average size) 2 c. chopped onion 1 c. coarsely chopped green pepper 3 cloves garlic, chopped 1 can of black beans, drained (opt.) 1-2 cups of corn kernels, frozen or canned (opt.) 2 T. basil, chopped (or more if you love basil) 2 T salt 3 T sugar (opt.) 3/4 t. pepper 1 T. chopped cilantro leaves 1-2 jars of tomato paste (depends how thick your mix is) Add this after mixture cooks. 3/4 c. white vinegar Mix together and cook approx. 1/2 hr. Place in hot jars and seal or place in canner of boiling water for 15- 20 min. Makes approx. 5 pint jars full. (Can double or triple the batch, just make sure your pot is big enough.) Ok, a few hints that I've learned along the way. In case you don't know the easy way to peel tomatoes, here it is. Boil a pot of water, wash your tomatoes and put them in your sink. Pour the boiling water on the tomatoes until you see the skin start to loosen which takes less than a minute. Quickly drain the water and add cold water to your sink to cool down the tomatoes. Drain again and begin peeling. The skins should come off easily. Chop and put in a large strainer. I set the strainer in the other sink or a large bowl to let some of the watery juice drain off so the salsa isn't as runny. If you use Roma tomatoes, your sauce will be less runny. Larger tomatoes are juicier. The tomatoe paste at the end is to thicken your sauce. I have used cornstarch and water in a pinch and it worked fine. When chopping the jalepenos, it's best to wear gloves. I just use disposable gloves so I don't reuse them with the hot oils on them. Don't rub your eyes, you'll definitely regret that! If I want a hot salsa, I cut off the tops of my peppers and throw them in my little food processor, seeds and all. This makes a great hot batch of salsa. If you want a mild salsa, take the seeds out and chop. I also cut my onions in quarters and throw them into my blender to chop. You'll do a lot less crying! :) The banana peppers can be sweet or the mildly hot ones. Again, it really depends on how hot you want it. Sometimes if the mixture is runny, I skim off the watery juice that sits on top of salsa as it cooks. You can even keep this and use it in soup or something. Funny story...I canned some of the juice that was leftover to use in soup or chili later. A couple of the jars where from my hot batch but I forgot to label them. I made soup for a fundraiser at church but poured the juice in before testing it. Well, guess what? Yep, I used the hot juice! It was good soup but it sure brought a sweat on and peeled the skin off my tongue! My husband loved it because he enjoys hot stuff. Have I totally confused and overwelmed you? Don't worry, it's not that hard. After a few times and some trial and error, you'll get it perfectly the way you want it! I'll post another recipe that I use for spaghetti sauce next time.